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Considering just desserts

by Kirstin Vander Giessen-Reitsma

As Peg Deames mentions in her article for this issue, a local group of "foodies" has been meeting in Three Rivers, Michigan for about a year and a half now to discuss the social, spiritual and communal aspects of our food habits, as well as share a fantastic potluck meal featuring local ingredients.  The experience has encouraged all of us to think more deeply about the values that inform our food choices and to move toward becoming more intentional about the consistency between what we say and what we do.

Out of this experience and many others have come several principles that I've been attempting to practice as a way of living the belief that all aspects of life are meaningful within the context of faith.  I've come to realize that, yes, even that celebratory blast of calories and sugar at the end of a balanced meal can be part of a joyful Kingdom vision.

1. Trade fairly.  Coffee and chocolate recipes are especially conducive to incorporating fair trade ingredients.  Use baking cocoa from a fair trade source like Equal Exchange.  Three tablespoons of baking cocoa plus one tablespoon of butter, oil or shortening can substitute for one ounce of unsweetened baking chocolate.  Even your pudding may benefit from some Alter Eco rice or sugar.
2. Buy local.  Buying locally supports a healthy local economy, encourage diverse local agriculture and cuts down on the fossil fuels used to transport food over great distances.  Explore the agricultural offerings within your neighborhood, county and state.  Of course the possibilities will vary with geography, but I know within 45 minutes of St. Joseph County, Michigan, we've found walnuts, honey, apples, melons, strawberries, blueberries, peaches, pears, maple syrup, stone-ground flour, dried berries, cherries, sorghum, popcorn…  And consider investing in locally grown souvenirs when you travel—pecans from Georgia, citrus from Florida and Arizona, and so on.  You may be able to find some things through Local Harvest or another resource, but you'll probably just have to ask around to find some of the smaller producers.
3. Forego "low fat".  If dessert is a disciplined indulgence, the added calories and fat should not matter as much as the artistry of the food.  Watch labels and opt for ingredients you can recognize over a low calorie count.  Choose real over processed (butter over margarine, for example).  If weight is a concern, pair desserts with exercise—follow up crème brulee with an evening stroll, even if you have guests over, and consider both to be a part of experiencing some after dinner delight.
4. Indulge simply.  When I'm pressed for time, the hours it will take me to craft an elaborate dessert detracts from the enjoyment of the process, while presenting a simple dessert won't necessarily detract from enjoyment.  Break up a fair trade chocolate bar and present it in a little dish.  Cut up some seasonal fruit.  Set out a bowl of fair trade or locally grown nuts or pumpkin seeds.  For a tasty conversation piece, serve some Yachana Jungle Chocolate or linger over handcrafted floral tea.
5. Seek out traditions.  Explore the recipes of family and friends to extend the community that your desserts represent.  Beyond being fair to farmers and to the earth, your desserts can represent your connectedness to those who surround you, literally or figuratively.  Crème Brulee and Oreos with milk will forever connect me to my dad.  Chocolate pudding after chili is my mom's legacy, along with chocolate chip cookies and banana bread (with cheddar cheese, if you please).  Fresh peach pie is my grandma's specialty, while apple slices belong to Rob's grandma.  And it all makes me ponder what gifts of memory I would like to pass on to my children.
6. Experiment.  Try baking with yeast.  Test out a vegan substitute for homemade pumpkin pie.  Craft or purchase an authentic dessert to go with an ethnic meal.  Dessert is never just for sustenance; it's a form of play.  And so, while certain comfort foods nurture our sense of nostalgia, desserts ought to be approached with whimsy and delight.

Now what list of dessert principles would be complete without a recipe?  The following is a quick recipe that yields a delicious vegan chocolate cake—easy to make with on-hand ingredients and offers the opportunity to use fair trade coffee and cocoa, locally grown or fair trade sugar, and locally milled flour.  If you're vegan-phobic, this is a good recipe to try if you're open to being convinced that some things can be worthwhile without animal products. An additional plus for me is that this recipe has served me well for many potlucks and late night cravings with our former housemates—add Grandma D's homemade butter cream frosting and it loses its vegan-ness, but I think it has the potential to let me cover all six principles in one sweet swoop.

It's the nature of baking and the global economy that it will be difficult if not impossible to discover the source of all of our ingredients—I can count at least four below—and so there's always a detectable hint of grace.  But life is always sweeter with an added ounce of care.  Now, lest I dish out another bad baking metaphor…

Moosewood Six-Minute Vegan Chocolate Cake

• 1 ½ c. unbleached white flour
• 1/3 c. cocoa powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 c. sugar
• ½ c. vegetable oil
• 1 c. cold water or coffee
• 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 2 Tbsp. cider vinegar

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Sift together the flour, cocoa, soda, salt and sugar.  In a separate bowl, mix together the oil, water or coffee and vanilla.  Combined the liquid and dry ingredients, stirring until the batter is smooth.  Add the vinegar and stir quickly.  There will be pale swirls in the batter as the baking soda and the vinegar react.  Stir just until the vinegar is evenly distributed throughout the batter.  Pour into a greased 8-inch square cake pan.

Bake for 25-30 minutes and set aside to cool.  Top with a frosting or glaze, or sliced fresh fruit.